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THE QUEEN'S VISIT TO BELGIUM.,

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THE QUEEN'S VISIT TO BELGIUM. f Continued from our 4th page.) The ancient and beautiful City of Bruges was | honoured with a visit by her Majesty and her illustrious Consort on Friday last. On the first intimation of the Royal visit, an honorable rivalry sprung up between the Government Functionaries and Civic Authorities, and the entire body of the inhabitants, as to who would hest appear, and most worthily welcome the Illustrious Visitors The combination of these efforts produced a spectacle which for beauty, pomp, and dramatic effect has rarely been sur- passed. From the rnilway station to the Hotel de Ville, along all the streets leading from the Oranle Place, through each avenue or passage through which the cm lege was ex- pected or was iikelv to pass, one continuous canopy of cloth of evev colour in the rainbow was formed bypassing piece" of beantifully dved stuffs from window to win(iow-eacii being tied in the centre with knots of various fashions, and most of them having suspended from the centre some device or emblem complimentary to the expected visitors. In fact, I every conceivable Inft;e or emblem of festivity and welcome were passed from door to door, hung from every window, streamed from eveiv pinnacle of house and steeple, tower, and edifice; and the whole presented a coup d ceil astound- inland delightful. It would be impossible to describe the nianv special complimentary devices hit upon by the city authorities to do honour to our Queen. One only will suffice to mention. A grand triumphal arch similur to that erected by the Brugeois to celebrate the entry of Napoleon —in imitation of s'one, wis erected at the entrance to the Boni'tr," on the front of which was inscribed the words "Victoria and Albert," and the back of which was com- posed entirely of fir trees, so bound together as to give it the appearance of a fiesh cut hedge. This arch, which stood about fifty feet high, and which faced the Hotel de Ville, had a superb effect. At twelve o'clock, the Queen of England and Ptince Albert, accompanied !>v the King and Queen of the Bel- gians, the Prince and Princess Hohenlohe, Lords Abetdeen and Liverpool, Ladv Canning, the Hon. Miss Hamilton, Sir H. and Ladv S^ymonr, the Belgian Ministers, and other Persons of Distinction, proceeded from the palace at Ostend to the Railway station, where M. Masni, the Directetir dn chemin de fer," awaited their arrival with a special train. The train consisted of six carnages, the centre one, destined for the Roval and Princplv Personages, being remarkably beautiful, richly ornamented, and in every way creditable to the maker. Less than half an hour brought the Illustrious Party to the station at Bruges, which event w»s annonnced to the citizens by the discharge of cannon, tlie cheering of the immense crowds collected in all the streets and places in the lin e of procession answering snch report, and the bells and cli mes ringing forth their city's joy at the happy advent of Royalty. The Roval Party having been received at the station by the Provincial Governor, the Burgomaster, the Eehevins, and the other Political and Municipal Authorities, entered the carriages in waiting, and were escoited by two troops of Cuirassiers through the Rhn dn Sablon and the Rne des Pierces into the Grande Place, and thence through the Philipstock, under the triumphal arch above alluded to, to the Hotel de Ville. As the cortegS passed, the reception given to it by the multitude was most enthusiastic. Vire la Reine d'Angle- terre" was repeated by every tongue in all the mingled dialects of Dutch, Flemish, Walloon, English, French, and German, and altogether the scene was one of general plea- sme to the visitors and the visited. Mounted gendarmes j and a gre tt many companies of infantry, chasseurs d pied, National Guards, and other military clad corps, added bril- liancy to the entire spectacle, than which one could hardly imagine one more unique and pretty. Arrived at the Hotel de Ville, a sumptuous dejeuner was served in the Salle d manger immediately after which the Royal party accompanied as before, went to the residence of the Governor of Flanders, where they made but a short stay, simply one of etiquette. Thence they proceeded to visit the principal edifices, monuments, and ciniosities of this thrice renowned relic of ancient mercantile greatness and commercial splendonr—the Church of Notre Dame— the Cathedral of St. Sanvenr—the Hospital of St. John— the Convent of English NUlls-and the Hall of the Company of Crossbowmen.—From this place, the Royal party pro- ceeded to the railway station on their way back to Ostend, proceeding amid the vivas, cheers, and blessings of the people, escorted as before, when the authorities of Bruges received the thanks of the Royal Visitors, and took their leave. Tire Royal party arrived before six o'clock safely at the Palace of Ostend. The dinner took place as usual at the Hotel de Ville. There was a performance at the Theatre, but the Royal party did not attend. On Saturday the Queen extended her progress to the ancient powerful, and independent city of Ghent The distance being about forty-fonr miles, the special train, conveying the Courts of Belgium and England, left the sta- tion at a little after nine o'clock, reaching Ghent about eleven. The preparations to receive and welcome her Majes- ty, if not on such a scale of external magnificence as those at Bruges, were not wanting in taste and completeness. Several triumphal arches, covered with linen cloth and festooned in different colors, were erected at the entrance to the principal streets. All these arches bore inscriptions; those on one of them illustrated a curious historical coin. cidence. They ran thus-—"Philippine Hainault, Reine d'Angleterre, a Hanft en 1343and on the other side, Victoria. Reine d' An.rlpterre, & Gand en 1843." On the arrival.or iul nujui ..«■> _« ,j,„ tillery fired a Royal Salute, and the military presented arms, "God save the Qneen" being played as nsnal. On the Royal party alighting, they entered a lent prepared for the occasion, where the Bishop, Governor, Burgomaster, and other various Authorities, civil and military, all dressed in their robes of state, were severally presented to her Ma. jesty by King Leopold. The Royal party then entered their carriages, the Civil and Military Authorities theirs, •nd the procession moved forward in the following order: First, the several ancient Guilds of Ghent, walking with their flags and other ensigns; cuirassiers, with their trum- peters; the Burgomaster, Judges of the Court ot Appeal, Members of the Council de la Resence in their carriages, eleven in number; the Bishop and the Governor in their carriages; the Officers of the Etat Major on horseback the carriages containing the King and Queen of the Bel- gians. Qneen Victoria and Prince Albert, with outriders the carriage containing Lord Aberdeen, Lord Liverpool, Lady Canning, and Lady Seymour; then four or five other carriages conveying the suite; and a troop of cuirassiers closed the procession. The cheering now and throughout the day was very warm and marked, though it did not come at all near that heard on the previous day at Bruges. The procession first went to the Town Hall, where her Majesty arranged her toilet; it then set out for the round of visits which the Royal Party were to pay the public edi- fices and enriosities of the town. The Governor's and Bur- gomaster's cat riages throughout kept the lead of the pro- cession immediately after the cuirassiers; but the other Municipal Authorities had separated to take tip their posi- tions in different quartets The first place visited was the splendid Cathedral of St. Bavon, the finest in Belgium: and thence went to the ancient and highly curious Nunnery of the Beqninage. The Royal Party then visited the Casino—the Palace of Justice—the Town Hall, where they partook of a splendid banquet—and thence proceeded to a Concert in the Theatre, which was thronjed with elegantly-diessed women and men in various military and other costumes. In the Royal box were the Queens of England and the Belgians, the King of the Belgians and Prince Albert, the officers of the house- hold standing behind them. On their entrance, the band struck up God save the Queen," at the end of the first Act, the Royal Party rose from their seats, amidst a burst of cheering, and left the box, for the pnrpose of going to the Throne-room, at the end of the Salle debal, where, according to the ancient customs of this independant community, the brave Gantoii were to enjoy the right of presenting them- selves betb) e Royalty under its canopy of State. The Royal Personages took their places on the dais at the end of the extreme apartment; the band stationed in the orchestra, which was over the door-way between, having concluded "God save the Queen," struck np their own national anthem, The Brahanqon," which they continued playing through- oat the remainder of the ceremony. After the concert, which closed between five and six o'elock, tli* Royal Party proceeded again to the Hotel de Ville, and thence to the railway station, where they44 em- barked" with the same state at attended them at their arrival. The Royal train reached Ostend about eight o'clock, and so ended the maitnificenifetesof tliiqeveiitfiii day. The whole of Sunday was devoted by her Majesty to repose, which must have been very necessary after the wild and whirling manner io which her Majesty has been dragged shoot during the last week. Her Majesty adhered to her invariable custom of strictly observing the duties of the day, and Mr. Jenkins accordingly came from Brussels and per- formed the service of our Church in a private apartment of the Palace. Mr. Jessop, the clergyman at Ostend, had made every preparation for the reception of her Majesty in the Protestant Church, which was festooned with flowers and adorned with evergreens, hat in the course of the morning he received a communication from her Majesty, requesting him to perform the service at the Palace. With this request he > -J_- L- IJ _1_ L: 1_ •wuiu wt iwiipiy, as ne count uui urpiwi HIS uuues at hl8 own chorett. Neither her Majesty nor Prince Albert left the Palace daring the whple of the morning, although their illus- trious hoet had been walking about for two or three hours. At an early hour on Monday our beloved Sovereign, with Prince Albert and the King and Queen of the Beljpana, took their departure from Ottend for Brussels, by railroad, and arrived at ilie latter place at two o'clock in the after- ooon. It was expected by the groups outside the Palace that their Majesties would show themselves to the people at tbe balcony. They did not, however, and, considering that tfeey had just travelled 80 miles along a most dusty road, •nd m a most sultry day, it wovld have been rather too sBuch to suppose that they were not suffering from fatigue attdomaoettoe.

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