The Sun.
London, England, 1866-10-22 00:00:00

Visit of the Volunteers to Belgium.

(From the Times Special Correspondent.)
BRUSSELS, Sunday Morning.
Yesterday afternoon Leopold 11. brought his
hospitalities towards the foreign riflemen to a con-
clusion with a banquet at which over 1,400 guests
were assembled, and which for regal magnificence
has not been equalled within the memory of the
present generation. From the first it was his
Majesty's desire not only to do honour to his visi-
tors as a body, but to make every individual rifle-
man feel that he was an object of especial regard on
the part of himself and his people. Accordingly,
not content with giving a succession of dinners at
Lacken to the officers of the English, French, and
Dutch corps, and with visiting the Tir, reviewing
the troops, and attending the opera, even though
afflicted at heart and depressed in spirits by reason
of the illness of his sister, he resolved that all the
foreign guests of his city of Brussels should be
assembled round his own table and there partake of
his hospitality, in company with Ministers of State,
distinguished orators, men of letters, and the faith-
ful Garde Civique of his capital. There was no
room in his permanent Palace large enough for such
an assembly ; but the King did not suffer this diffi-
culty to stand in the way of his princely intentions.
He actually had a palace and a banquet-hall im-
provised for the occasion ; and, startling as the as-
sertion may appear to any one who did not
see the result, it is no exaggeration to say that the
Thousand and One Tales of the " Arabian Nights"
must have been the source in which M. Goffart, the
architect, sought for his designs and embellish-
ments. From the entrance porch to the extreme
of the great dining-room—vestibule, entrance-hall,
antechambers, all were marvellous in scenic gran-
deur ; and not one of the vast company seemed
capable of suggesting anything by way of improve-
ment on the elegance and beauty of every arrange-
ment. After their ten days in Belgium it was not
easy to surprise the Volunteers by anything in the
way of feting or decoration ; but they were posi-
tively amazed at what the King bad provided for
them yesterday ; and it was no wonder that, carried
away by their admiration and gratitude, every man
of them sprang upon his seat when his Majesty's
health was proposed, waved their handkerchiefs
with enthusiasm, and poured forth fur fully five
minutes a volley of cheers which drowned the
salvos of a park of artillery.
The place selected for this extraordinary banquet
was the pavilion du Rivage, a large building used
as a sort of bonding store on the canal which forms
the port of Brussels. Outside it looks like an orna-
mental copy of the goods stores of one of our great
railways, and on ordinary occasions it is plain and
cold inside. Yesterday the interior was a combina-
tion of the martial splendour of a baronial castle
with the mild loveliness of a fragant and enchant-
ing garden, having innumerable fairy bowers, all
verdant in green foliage and bright in the tints of
choice flowers, and amid which fountains shot forth
sprays of exquisite beauty. As the company arrived
at the Pavilion they were received under an awning
whence they passed directly into the vestibule. Here
every one involuntarily came to a stand, as well he
might, for the sight that met him upon all sides was
one the like of which he had never seen before. The
apartment is about 100 feet long by 50 wide. Half-
way down on the left hand was a flight of steps
leading to the hall, whence you passetlinto a dining-
rootn. From the groined ceiling, for two-thirds of -
its length, hung draperies composed of flags that had
seen service. Where those draperies ended, at the
further end, was an impromptu garden, to which
choice Oriental plants had been conveyed in such
luxuriant abundance as to make labyrinths of the
artificial paths constructed among trees and flower
beds. There were two fountains, one with many
jets, which played upon exotics arranged in basins.
beneath, the other throwing up a stream which,
rising above a profusion of wide foliage, descended
in a conopy of water so airy and transparent that it
had the appearance of a dewy veil. As you ap-
proached this sylvan retreat you saw the figures of
livir g grenadiers half concealed in the winding paths,
and standing arms in hand as motionless as statues.
Half way down the hall on the right appeared a war
trophy, which for picturesque effect was a perfect
masterpiece of art. On the wall, and reaching from
some 4 feet above the floor to the roof, was a
star of enormous proportions, formed of arms
and accoutrements of every sort and description.
The outer radii were guns with their bayonets fixed
and bristling ; within these were bright swords,
next came pistols, then bayonets, then helmets and
shields and breastplates, and in the centre a bust of
Leopold 11. On a platform beneath were two
heavy field pieces on their carriages, with a little
conical hill of cannon balls behind each. By the
mouth of one gun, sponge rod in hand, stood an
artilleryman ; by the bther, one of the Civic Guardl
armed and on the watch. Two other men of other I
branches of the service were in the immediate rear
of the guns. All four stood motionless and rigid
as if they were fixed to the spot. Ranged round the
platform were scabbards and lances, and at either
a sheaf of flags. The
implements, banners, and living soldiers, which
formed this trophy was a surprising effect of artistic
skill, and drew forth the warmest expressions of ad-
miration. Opposite to it, and forming the boundary
of the steps leading to the hall, were baskets and
pots of flowers and fresh evergreens, and aen
booted and spurred and armed to the teeth, stood
keeping guard on either side of the door, The hall
was another marvel. On one side was a door-lead-
ing to the room fitted up for the reception of the
King—one of the most elegant little rooms a king
ever put his foot into. Over the doors were hung
crimson velvet curtains; the chairs were upholstered
in crimson and gold ; the toilette fable was elabo-
rately carved and richly gilt, and on the walls were
• some fine Flemish paintings. Tire King's way from
the reception-room was by the hall, and on the side
opposite his door was such a garden as one sees out-
' side the drawing-room.of some of the palaces in Flo-
rence and Genoa. The wall was lined with mirrors,
so that the flower-beds and trees and fountains were
all doubled by reflection. This accompaniment proved
extremely effective. Passing from the ball you en-
tered the banqueting-room. Had each of the guests
been a sovereign prince, the King of the Belgians
• might still have felt proud of his place of entertain-
ment. Covers were laid for between 1,400 and
1,500. The King's table was placed longitudinally,
and in such a position that his Majesty had his back
to the entrance-hall when he tooknbis-seat. All the
other tables were placed in a transverse direction,
as regarded the position of his. All were covered
with appointments of the most elegant description ;
gilt candelabra of six branches, all holding wax
candles, were placed at intervals of a few feet along
every table ; and the show of plate was a picture in
itself. But that there was a roof overhead and the
pillars which supported it the guests might easily
have imagined that they were assembled in a garden.
Not only , were there plants and flowers everywhere
around, but here and there artificial groves met the
eye, and on all sides there was the faint sound of
distant jets descending on loaves and plants, and
causing them to rustle in a way that conveyed to the
mind the impression of a delightfulv freshness reign-.
ing everywhere around. rom the ceiling hung
the standards of Belgium,andFrance,in escutcheons
England, Hol-
land, and Switzlerland ;
o:scutcheons on the
pillars were the arms of each eo.f those, nation-
alities. On the wall, over the K
the arms of the city of Brussels ; nogns chair, were
the opposite
side were those of Belgium.
It was just, a few minutes past 1 o'clock when the
firing of guns announced that the King had set out
from the palace. By this time the company had
taken their seats, and the Ministers, Foreign Am_
bassadors, and Generals quartered in Brussels were
waiting in the hall to receive his Majesty. Our
Ambassador was absent, owing to indisposition ;
but his lordship was represented by Mr. French,
who is acting as principal secretary to the Legation,
and Mr. Egerton, one of the attaches, was also
present. The Lord Mayor of London, in the uni-
form of a Deputy-Lieutenant, and his son were
there ; and all the King's aides-de-camp were pre-
sent in uniform. On his Majesty's arrival he was
shown into the reception-room, whence he at once
passecrinto the hall and on to the banquet-room.
Another salute of artillery was fired as he entered