The Sun.
London, England, 1866-10-16 00:00:00

... -
Visit of the Volunteers to Belgium.

(From the Times Special Correspondent.)
BRUSSELS, Monday Morning.
To describe in detail or even keep pace with all
the various manifestations of rejoicing and hospita-
lity here is a simple impossibility. The original
programme was formidable, but it has sunk into in-
significance as compared with the reality of what is
going on here at all hours from morning till night,
week-day and Sunday. "We were not prepared
for this" is the expression in every foreigner's mouth,
and the words are those of strict truth. To say
that the munificent manifestations of cordiality
which the people of Brussels are making in favour
of our countrymen are ostentatious would be a gross
perversion of fact, but we may, without detracting
from the unparalleled hospitality of her hosts, say
that the more than kindness shown to the Volun-
teers here is becoming embarrassing to them, and
for this reason=that they feel it will be utterly be-
yond their power ever to return it in kind. We can
do "a great many things in England, and some of
them better than they can be done in any other
country, but to entertain 1,200 or 1,300 foreigners
in the way the Belgians are regaling their guests is
one of the things we could not do, however well we
might be disposed. To conduct without hitch or
miscarriage rejoicings extending over even one day
is a task seldom accomplished ; but to receive and
fete and caress and amuse many hundreds of men of
various countries and of various tastes for a succes-
sion of days in such a manner that the pleasure and
gratitude of all the recipients should day by day,
and hour by hour, be growing in intensity is some-
thing that any city which does it may well be proud
of ; and this Brussels is doing. For all time to come
there is no city out of England of which our coun-
trymen ought to feel more delightful recollections.
On Saturday the Volunteers began to compete in
the Tir at the short ranges. On the same day
the other foreign riflemen and the Garde Civique
fired away for many hours, with but a brief inter-
mission to allow the markers and other officials
time for refreshment. As the Tir system is so diffe-
rent from that of the prize shooting at Wimbledon,
a short description of it may not prove uninterest-
ing to the reader who is following the narrative of
the visit of the Volunteers to Belgium. At the Tir
the firing is done through windows, the riflemen
being comfortably housed. The scene of the peace-
ful contests of the Belgian riflemen among each other
and with foreigners on such occasions as the present
is about two English miles from the city. On arriv-
ing at the grounds of the Commission Directrice du
Tir, you perceive a long brick structure, something
like the south wing of the last Great Exhibition
building at Kensington, running longitudinally
across a field ; and when you enter it you are dis-
posed to think you are in an extensive riding-school,
with a continued series of box-stalls from end to end
on one side. There is a considerable thickness of fine
clay under your feet, and a plain wooden-pointed
arched roof over your bead. There are 35 of the box-
stalls, or series, each with a window looking out on
targets, and each provided with a desk, at which sits
a functionary in uniform—every official wears a
uniform here. Facing the series, andon the entrance
side, is a recess, midway in the building. Here is
the president's chair, and there also are doors lend-
ing to committee-rooms upstairs. At the extreme
left is the ambulance, where you find a perfectly-
appointed little hospital, with surgical appliances
and medicaments such as may be necessary in case
of accidents from gunshots. At the far right is a
little target office, the proceedings in which I shall
describe by-and-by. When a rifleman is about to
compete he is introduced into one of the series. His
name and other particulars are entered by the
officer at the desk, his charge is handed to him,
and he proceeds to put his rifle in shooting order.
It is on record that careless loaders of deadly
weapons have done damage even to the extent
of accidental homicide in obeying the order
" make ready." A slight charge of powder will
propel a ramrod with a dangerous force, and accord-
ingly precaution is taken against such danger at the
Tir. Outside the wooden roof is one of strong zinc,
so that no refractory ramrod can find its way through.
Again, though it is to be presumed that any one en-
tering as a competitor in an international or national
rifle match will not fire into the air, the directors of
the Tir have made such provision as renders any-
" thing of the kind impossible. At a distance of some
six feet outside each window a hoarding is raised
above a height of some 18 inches or two feet, so that
the person firing is prevented from aiming at a dan-
gerous angle of ascent. But the most interesting
and perfect portion of the whole arrangements is
that which relates to the targets and the marking.
In respect to this the Swiss system is adopted. The
targets are affixed to iron uprightr, which rise from
trenches. On either end of a revolving bar two very
fine circular iron rims are placed. On the rims
pasteboard, painted black, is placed so as to form a
circle like the end of a small drum. To the black
circle a smaller white one is affixed, and on this a
series of circles are drawn with a pencil, the inner
one forming the bull's-eye. When one target is up
for a mark the one ou the other end of the bar is, of
course, down in the trench, where men are stationed
to work the targets. On the exposed circle being
struck within the white, one of these men instantly
turns the revolving bar so as to bring down the tar-
get which has been perforated and elevate in its
place the one that is still fresh. having done this,
he at once removes the white circles bearing the ball
mark, affixes to it a little ticket stating its number
and the ring within which the ball has entered, and
then a messenger carries it round to the bureau at
the extreme end of the long building, where another
official places it in a pigeon hole, after he has
docketed a corresponding number, and made an
entry of the shot in a large book. At the end of
the contest all the white circles are produced,
and the winning shot is declared without the
possibility of fraud, or even of error. A visitor may
stand in the trenches with perfect safety, and see
the rifle balls striking just over his head. Should a
ball not strike at all, it passes on into a clay em-
bankment. If it hits the target, it goes through the
pasteboard. There
is,to be sure, the solid substance
of the iron rim, but it is as fine as the blade of a
dinner knife, and the ball would go on in two sec-
tions if it struck it. Several of our Volunteers have
already tried their hands at the short ranges, of
which there are two distances, one of 100 an d the
other of about 240 yards. Some good shots have
been made by them, but, as the competition is still
going on, it would be premature to speculate as. to
the position which they will hold in the prize list.
To-day and to-morrow the long ranges will be open
for foreign riflemen, and our men are confident as
to success in these. The strength of the other
foreign riflemen and the Belgians lies in the short
ranges, because it is at these they practise. The
effect on the ears when you stand in the building
from which the shots are fired is something that
Wimbledon could give one no idea of. The con-
tinuous discharge of 35 rifles under one roof and in
one straight line is a process which time may render
less disagreeable' but that it can ever be exactly en-
joyable is what an unsophisticated visitor is very
much inclined to d
doubt. That the system of mark-
ing is admirable can scarcely be questioned.
The Ist SuirresRifles,
whose headquarters are at
the Hotel de Flandres,
as
have brought over their own
w
band. At first it believed by many of their
brother Volunteers that I'
was a very dangerous
experiment. The military bands of Belgium
ru
and those of the Garde Civiqee of llssels
are re-
nowned, and it was fearezl that to Volunteer
the comparison might prove " odiet".,, hands
however, have the musicians of the Ist Surreyo
won
Not only,
golden opinions from the Bruxellois, but, last
evening, the bandmaster of the regiment was‘
presented with a gold medal, after a competi-
tion in the Commune St. Josse-ten-Noorede.
This gentleman was a drummer-boy at Waterloo.
On Saturday evening the Ist Surrey gave
grand dinner at their rb* head-quarters. A number of
on the occasion, and the
were entertained o
band performed during the evening immediately
under the windows of the Hotel de Flandres, in the
Palace Royale. At least a thousand of the towns-
people assembled round the band, and such was the
enthusiasm of these Belgians on hearing them King
toasted inside that they raised a succession of loud
cheers, and displayed such a desire to fraternise with

the Volunteers inside that the windows were thrown
open, and a scene of the most jubilant, mutual en-
thusiasm ensued, the band playing the " Braban-,
Bonne," and subsequently, when the health of her
Majesty of England was drunk, " God Save the

Queen."
The same evening Lieut.-Col. Lindsay and his
Staff, Lord Bury, Sir P. Hunter, and all the field-
officers of the Volunteers, were received at dinner by
the King and Queen of the Belgians at Laeken.
The guests having assembled in the drawing-room,
their Majesties entered and spoke a few words to
every one of them. Besides Volunteer officers, there
were present on the occasion the Ministre de l'lnte-
rieure, the Comte,ase Borghrove and Madame de
Benterghen, Dames du Palais; Gen. de Liem, Ad -
jutant-General ; Comte de Borghrove, Secretaire
du Roi; Major Baron Prisse, Adjutant du Palais;
M. Brewer, Officier d'Ordonnance ; Dr. Eustace
Smith, of London, Physician Extraordinary to the
King ; and M. Anspach, Bourgmestre of Brussels.
After the dinner at the Palace, the Volunteer offi-
cers, 'accompanied by the Bourgmestre, attended the
ball given by La Reunion Lyrique. On entering the
ball-room our countrymen found themselves on
historic ground. In the same apartment, standing
just as it does now, and with precisely similar deco-
rations, the Duchess of Richmond assembled around
her Wellington and his companions in arms on the
very eve of the battle of Waterloo. In this room
t happened that " there was a sound of revelry by
night," when the alarm was given, and heroes
rushed from the ball to the camp. On Saturday
night Frenchmen, Englishmen, and Belgians met
there, not in memory of the past, but to renew
pledges of lasting goodwill, and they and their fair
partners waltzed to music selected with international
impartiality. All thesaloons of La Reunion Lyrique
were beautifully adorned for the occasion. In the
ante-rooms were extempore gardens of choice exo-
tics, amid which crystal fountains threw up refresh-
ing sprays. La Grand Salle, in which the dancing
took place, is an exceedingly elegant and chastely-
decorated apartment. It was brilliant in glass chan-
deliers. The walls, pilasters, and ceiling were all in
pure white,with gold reliefs. For hours dancing was
carried on with great spirit, but certainly under dif-
ficulties, for such was the crowd that no pair of
waltzers could extend their saltatory movements to
a circle as large as that of an ordinary round table.
When Col. Lindsay and his staff entered dancing
was at once suspended, the band played" God save
the Queen," and at the conclusion of the national
anthem repeated hurrahs, waving of handkerchiefs,
and clapping of hands bid welcome to the Volun-
teers. The President of the Reunion having con-
ducted Col. Lindsay up to the head of the ball-room,
addressed him in the name of the society, and the
gallant officer responded to the compliment in
French.

Yesterday morning the Volunteers paraded for
open-air divine service in the Place du Musee. All
the field-officers were mounted, and the men assem-
bled in nearly full strength. All the space in the
Place outside that occupied by the Volunteers, as
well as the streets in the immediate vicinity, were
blocked by masses of people, who came to witness
this very impressive ceremony.
Mr. Drury, who has for so many years acted as
chaplain to the English church here, read the prayers
from an open window overlooking the place, and
Mr. Jenkins, his curate, delivered a short sermon on
the Lord's Prayer from the same position. The re-
sponses were given in tones the most respectful by
about 1,000 men in uniform, and the effect was in
the highest degree solemn and religious.
The church service having concluded, the Volun-
teers proceeded in marching order five deep, to the
Boulevard du Regent to he reviewed with the other
foreign riflemen by the King and Queen. The
French National Guards and the National Guards
of Holland had previously met in the Rue de la Loi
and taken up a position on the Boulevard between
that street and La Rue Guimard. When the Vo-
lunteers arrived they stationed themselves in line to
the left of the Dutch National Guards. There were
1,077 Volunteers present on the occasion. At a
quarter-past 12 the Bourgmestre of Brussels, ac-
companied by Lieutenant-General Plentinkx, Com-
mandant, and M. le Baron Fierlent, ' capitaine
d'Etat Major de la Garde Civique, arrived on the
Boulevard. Not only the great mass of the popu-
lation of Brussels, but vast numbers of the people
of the suburbs, hal turned out to do honour to their
King and Queen ; and when their -Majesties ap-
peared at the end of the Boulevard, on their ap-
proach from Lacken, and as long as they were in
presence of the myriads of their subjects assembled
for the inspection, the scene of popular enthusiasm
was such as, perhaps, has not been excelled, and not
often equalled, in this or any other country. The
King rode a magnificent black charger, and the
Queen was also mounted on a spirited and splendid
horse. His Majesty, who wore the uniform of a
Lieutenant-General, with the grand cordon of the
Order of Leopold, looked " every inch a King ;" the
Queen, who is one of the most graceful horsewomen
in Europe, wore a plain- black riding-habit, with a
high black hat. Her Dames of Honour, Madame de
Denberghem and Mdlle. la Vicomtesse de Bengham,
were similarly attired. The King was followed by an
extremely numerous and brilliant staff, and a bevy
of other officers, including General de Liem, Lieut.-
General Renard, Lieutenant-General du Pont,
Lieutenant-General le Baron Goethals, Aides-de-
Camp ; Lieutenant-General Frison, General-Major
Comte de Moerkerke, Colonel Goffinet, Major
Baron Prism; Generals-Major Arend Lecocq,
Berten, and Bulls; Cols. Wolff and Tousson, Major
de Savoye, and Captains Montegnies, the Baron F.
Jolly, the Baron Chazel, and de White ; and Lieu-
tenants the Baron Wyckerslooth, Brewer, and Lun-
den. Orders had been issued to the Volunteers not
to cheer as the King passed down the line, and this
direction was obeyed ; but the shouts of " Vive le
Roi !" " Vive le Reine !" from the concourse of spec-
tators rose in deafening shouts. Colonel Lindsay
rode to the right of his hlajesty while he was passing
the. Volunteers, and on their Majesties turning
round to return along the Boulevard, the prohibitory
order being no longer in force, the Volunteers took
off their shakoes and expressed their gratitude to
both the King and
the force in Brusselsg bu eye
an forsue
succession
iroene reception i o
thoroughly
English hurrahs. g iven t
o
From the Boulevards their Ma-
jesties passed to their town Palace at the head of
the park to see all the riflemen defile before them.
In the space between the Palace and the park, and
in the park itself, the concourse vas urse vas larger than any
which one would have thought could be brought to-
gether in a city of something over 200,000 inhabi-
tants, and .with one accord all the people shouted
and waved their hats and handkerchiefs in
their loyalty. Their Majesties, remaining on horse-
back, took up a position directly in front of the
Palace. The situation for an inspection of troops
has scarcely its superior. The Palace and a grand
line of fine buildings were to the rear and on each
side of the Royal cortege, at a sufficient distance to
serve as picturesque accessaries to the scene.
Op-
posite was the beautiful
park, with its trees still
fresh in verdure, and the waters of its splendid
fountain glistening in the sunshine high above the
foliage ; in the centre, between the park and the
Palace, a roadway of great width, on this occasion
so covered with people as to leave riflemen hardly
room to pass. There were no barriers no sergent-
de-ville• ,
interfered with any one. The music of the
Ist Surrey joined with the Belgian bands in per-
forming the National Anthem of Belgium. The
King's face beamed with dignified happiness ; the
Queen seemed more than pleased, and the, young
Duc de Brabant testified his boyish delight at one
of the windows of the Palace. It was under such
happy circumstances that nearly 1,000 of our Vol-
unteers defiled before a Sovereign and a people
whose happiness would appear to be complete, and
whose hospitality certainly seems to be boundless.

KEBLE'S DYING REQUEST FOE A COIMECTION IN
TILE CHRISTIAN YEAR.—In accordance with a dying
request 4f the Rev. John Keble, ono of his executors, Rev.
F. Keble, has made a most itnportant alteration in one verse
of the hymn for the sth of November. The words that
formerly stood referring to the Eucharist were :
" Here present in the heart,
• Not in the hand ;"

They now run—
" Here present in the heart,
As in the hand."