The Express.
London, England, 1865-12-21 00:00:00

THE NEW KING OF THE BELGIANS.

(now on erscus.

1111IIMELS, TUESDAY.
A Te Deum was offered up yesterday morning in
the cathedral of Saint Gudule by the Cardinal Arch-
bishop of Melines, assisted by the Bishops of Liege,
Tournai, Namur, Gand, and Bruges. This state
service was performed with all the pomp and splen-
dour of the Romish church, and may be said to
conclude the inaugural ceremonies attending the
accession of Leopold IL The King, dressed as
yesterday, in the uniform of a general officer, and
wearing the ribbon of his order, the Count de Flan-
dres similarly attired, thelArchduke of Austria, and
the Prince of Saxe, in the white uniforms of the
Austrian army, lef t the palace with their suites about
mid-day, and drove direct to the cathedral. Along
the Rue Royale and through the streets leading to the
Place Saint Gudule, the road was thronged with an
enthusiastic multitude, who (tendered their con-
gtatulations in the noisy and demonstrative
teehion multitudes are wont to do when
times are easy and monarchs are popular. The
entire city is in full dress now, and this morning,
as during the illuminations of last night, the uni-
form colour of the flags and decorations suspended
from and about most windows and balconies, and
the perpetual recurrence of the red, amber, and
black of the Belgian tricolour, make the distinction
between the forms of rejoicing need here and ati
home, where a flag of every hue is held to sym-
bolise the feeling of the hour especially note-
worthy. Bouquets were thrown, and banners, with 11
complimentary mottoes and pious prayers in-
seribed on them, were waved as the royal party'
passed through the crowded square to the spacious'
flight of steps leading to the chief entrance to the
cathedraL A apace round this was kept by a large
detachment of the civic guard, and the view from
it round the quaintly gabled houses, every point
of which was animate with rejoicing, and crowded
with life, recalled some old picture of a
mediaeval pageant, or that triumphant entry
of Bolingbroke which Mr. Charles Kean interpo-
lated between the acts of Richard IL
It will be remembered that the late King Leo-
pold, though himself &protestant, had his children
educated in the Romish faith. This was done
for political reasons, sad in order that the creed of
his successor might tally with that of the vast
majority of the Belgian people. The ceremony of
yesterday was therefore not without its special
significance, and the magnificent formalities, the
jewelled and mitred prelates, the solemn oblations
and thanksgivings, were, it must be borne in mind,
brought together and offered up, not merely for a
new King, but for a true, but, as the speech to the
Senate proved, a liberal and enlightened son of the
church. For some hours before the time fixed for
the celebration of the Te Deum, every portion of
the cathedral not reserved was filled, and some
priests averred in my bearing
that old Saint
Gudule bad never held so many people during the
eight hundred years it has been open for the wor-
ship of God. Its nave, from the entrance-door to
the iron railings of the choir, was lined by a strong
body et the Civic Guard, whose uniforms and
plumed hussar caps, accompanied as they were by
the clank of arms, the constant rappel of drums,
and the deep bass of the frequent words of com-
mand, looked to some eyes strangely unfamiliar in
a church. From the stalls in the choir the eye
rested upon a long vista of glittering bayonets, of
feathers, and of bearskins, and as the orders to
ground or present arms, and the signals from the
bandmasters to the drummers were given simul-
taneouslyievery few seconds, the effect here was
still more incongruous. The general public were
clustered out of sight in the side aisles, where they
pushed, and peeped, and struggled behind the
barriers, happy indeed when by an almost super-
: human effort of gymnastics they succeeded in
recognising a senator's decorations or an officer's
plume. Carriages set down at a side door, and the
embroidered and much-beribboned worshippers
rapidly flocking is were marshalled to their seats in
the nave or to those set apart for them in the choir,
according to their rank. Four gold-chained ushers
stood at the entrance to precede the more distin-
guished arrivals, and the regimental bandmaster,
whenever he saw the officials coining, raised
and lowered his silver mace with redoubled vigour,
until the rata-tat-tat of the drums seemed to shake
the gigantic figures of the Apostles, which dwarf
the lofty pillars of the nave, and to send the old
tapestry fluttering in its noisy breeze. Apart from
this tapestry, which is unequalled in the world, and
noble specimens of which were suspended yester-
day over the six arches of the choir, and apart, too,
from atricoloured scroll above the high altar, bear-
ing as its inscription, " Deo jubilans nationis pre-
catur applaudens vivat rex Leopoldus," the some-
what cold and bare walls of Saint Gudule were
undecorated. The flags and trophies of the streets
were not introduced into the church, and the
warmth and colouring of the vast picture its inte-
rior made was furnished by the human actors in it.
Here there was, as at all the celebrations of the
last few days—funeral, festive, or religious—a pro-
fusion of bright and radiant hues which was posi-
tively dazzling to the eye. The choir looked like a
vast and gorgeous flower bed, in which the flowers
had been denuded of their leaves, and the severe
white of the cathedral walls made a fitting setting
for the countless varieties of colour it framed in.
At each side of the high altar, and within its
railings, stood two canopies of crimson velvet and
gold, that on the left having a large gilt crown upon
its rounded summit, while the right-hand'one ter-
minated with some abruptness, and with its hang-
ings arranged in simpler fashion. The first was
for the King, the second for the cardinal arch-
bishop, and there was ample room in each for the
suite accompanying them. Immediately outside
the altar railings were seated the Belgian diplo-
matic corps and the envoys and ambassadors from
foreign courts. The variety of the bright uniforms,
the number of orders, of gay shoulder knots, and
shining gold ornaments, made this broad belt of
diplomacy look brilliance itself. The seats to the
right hand of the choir were filled, first with repre-
sentatives of the Assembly in evening dress, whilst
on the places nearest the railings, through which
the populace—more many-headed than ever—
peered, stood some hundreds of white-robed ton-
sured priests and choristers. To the left of the
choir there was, with two trivial exceptions, not
a sign of anything so simple as black or
white. Senators in blue and gold and parti-
colours, ministers of state similarly adorned, judges
of the various courts in red and ermine, officers and
officials in uniform, filled up this half of the choir ;
and from railing to railing the only break in the
all-pervading magnificence were two Englishmen,