The Express.
London, England, 1867-07-20 00:00:00

THE BELGIANS AT HOLLY LODGE.

Unless the review at Wimbledon to-day turns
out to be superlatively pleasant, the Belgian rifle-
men will mark yesterthsy with red letters when
they record their visit to this country. They have
haJ official receptions in civic hall mid tented field,
but their crowning treat has been the private wel-
come of a lady whom all England delights to
honour. Miss Burdett Coutta and her enviable
retreat at Highgate will not easily be forgotten by
our soon departing visitors ; and we ourselves have
had another proof that her qualities as a hostess
are no less powerful than her merits as a
philanthropist. St. Swithin for one day forgot
his mission ; and although once or twice he
seemed to be struggling with his better nature, the
threatened downpour was kept back, and the sun
was allowed to smile away his gloom. The locality
was also calculated to exercise a favourable influ-
ence upon the day; so was the time fixed for the
fte. What with the Alhambra and Leicester-
square in the' west, and Gravesend and Guildhall
in the east, a visit to the north-west presented
itself to the Belgians in the light of an exploring
expedition ; and what period could be more grate-
ful
for a quiet tramp away from town into the
gentle surroundings of country than the day succeed-
ing the revels of the Agricultural-hall, which we
are assured on the authority of most faithful
chroniclers were kept up till daylight did appear ?
Kentish-town is not generally favoured with a due
share of the gaieties and excitements of the metro-
polis, and Highgate-road unfortunately is more
familiar with processions of sadness than of joy.
The irhabitanta hailed yesterday, therefore, as a
break in the monotony, and morning beheld them
trying to follow the lead of more pretentious dis-
tricts in that work of street decoration which
has been the Londoner's dream during the
past fortnight. And we may, without fear
of contradiction, say that when the Belgians
declare Mies Coutts's flite to be the chief of the
whole series, they will also have to acknowledge in
the same breath, that, taking the whole route from
the Albany Barracks to Holly Lodge, Camden-town
bore off the palm in the earnestness and thorough-
ness of its out-door demonstrations. From the
York and Albany to the Redcap, from the Redcap
to the end of Kentish-town-road, and thence to the
end, there was no gap in the smart adorning, of
houses and shops. In Park-street especially the
flags were noticeable ; at one point a power-
ful Oddfellows', or some other friendly society,
having turned out of their jealously guarded
resting places the painted silk banners
for which they are famous. Belgian flags,
English flags, American flags, and even Turkish
flags, mingled with the miscellaneous bunting of no
nation at all, and in such profusion that a stranger
might have been pardoned for fancying he had
dropped down into a seaport town by mistake.
Perhaps it was the friendly sun, or perhaps the
favouring breeze, but certainly from some cause
the fluttering properties of the inhabitants of the
locality shook out their folds more jauntingly,
and told their meaning more plainly and cheerfully
than the majority of the decorations we have lately
been in the habit of seeing.
The Belgians mustered in Albany-street bar-
racks, somewhat irregularly, soon after noon, and
if fine fellows like the cavalry who inhabit those
quarters are capable of being jealous, they had
abundant cause to exercise that quaint human
attribute. When the Guards parade on common
days, albeit there are horses to look at as well as
men, their most numerous admirers are nursemaids
and boys; but yesterday the barrack gates
were besieged, and Regent's-park, the idlers' fa-
vourite lounging place, was empty. The muster
included the usual evolutions—drum-rolls, trumpet
calls, short marches, falling into line and out
again, and facing all ways without any apparent
object. By about two o'clock the order was given
to start, and led by their band, which had fre-
quently played the two national anthems, they set
out on their march, with about two hundred
of the North Middlesex Volunteers acting
as pioneers. Perpetual cheers and waving
of white handkerchiefs by rich and poor com-
menced as soon as the advance had cleared the
corner of Albany-street, and did not cease until
the houses became more scanty at Highgate. At
the junction of the four roads at the Redcap the
crowds were packed in thousands, and several
waggons and carts were placed in convenient spots
for the accommodation of those who felt inclined
to pay for so slight a rise in the world. The corps
swung along into Kentish-town road, as if fully
aware that they had at length an opportunity of
letting us see how shining their plumes and ac-
coutrements could be if weather gave them a
reasonable chance. With all the crowd, however,

and with the aid of a minimum quantitiof police,
the traffic did not seem in the least obstructed.
Kentish-town road shut up most of its shops, and
revealed the owners with a holiday gathering
of friends stationed at the windows and
on the balconies and pavements, nerv-
ous with expectation and voluble with
praise. The young ladies " made signs" to the
riflemen with hand and countenance in a manner
that might have been dangerous with more im-
pressionable youths, while the elders, instead of
frowning down such proceedings, looked on as if the
rites of hospitality were being most religiously
observed. Even in Highgate, with its dozens of
genteel boarding schools, there was no abatement
of this free feminine bearing. The estimable heads
of the establishments had embellished their house
fronts regardless of trouble, and two or three awed
the ignorant by exhibiting pretty devices with real
French mottoes upon them. Half holiday reigned
supreme evidently, for blooming damsels also
appeared upon the scene with gleeful faces.
Further on, when all signs of trade had
been left behind, save at an occasional inn,
the households did not withhold their pre.
sence, but came out, masters, mistresses, and ser-
vants, amongst the shrubs and flowers, to remain
until the rear guard had disappeared. The hour's
march wss, therefore, in spite of Highgate Rise, a
merry and triumphant one.

Holly Lodge is generally spoken of as a cottage,
and such it is in the beat sense of the word—quiet,
cosy, and in the midst of grounds that the most
scrupulous law-obeyer could hardly fail to covet.
" Not wholly in the busyworld"—for, in truth, the
hourrnay here occasionallybe read from the clock of
St. Stephen's--it is nevertheless sufficiently removed
from it to enable one to hear the distant din with-
out feeling the crowd. It is just such a place as
such a lady as the hostess might be expected to
live in. The neatly trimmed walks and level
lawns were yesterday trodden by over 2,000 armed
men, but without interfering with the peaceful
character of the place, and we very much doubt
whether a shillings worth of damage was done
within the long enclosure of palings. At the end
of the descending grounds the encampment was
tired—one large tent to seat 1,200 men, and two
smaller ones to seat 600 each, besides
minor marquees for commissariat purposes.
Away to the right there is an eminence known
to this day as Traitor's Hill, because the com-
panions of Guy Fa ux were said to have waited
there to aid in his escape when he had finished the
little project he had in hand in Westminster on a
certain 6th of November. On the spot where those
conspirators waited and watched centuries ago we
stood yesterday to witness the movements of the
holiday folks who came to meet the Belgians, and a
pretty sight it was, as all who saw it acknowledged
—Belgian riflemen and English volunteers mingling
together amidst " the tall ancestral trees" of one
of those " free fair homes " which they wore
raised to defend.

It was an " at home" yesterday at Holly-lodge.
The Belgians reached the grounds and entered
them at the lower end shortly after 3 o'clock,
but for an hour before carriages had been rolling
along the approaches, bearing fashionable visitors
to Miss Coutts. Nearly a thousand were invited,
in addition to the riflemen. The visitors who
came to the lawn party arrived at the higher
entrance, and were kindly welcomed by the hostess.
A guard of honour of the Tottenham, Hampstead,
and Hornsey rifles were drawn up in the main
walk, and at the end of the walk, crossing it at
right angles, there stood a large rustic bower, the
entire beck of which had been plated with mirror-