The Sun.
London, England, 1866-10-19 00:00:00

Visit of the Volunteers to Belgium,

(From the Times Special Correspondent.)
BRUSSELS, Thursday Morning.
Yesterday was a comparatively quiet day here as
regards public proceedings, though the non-official
hospitalities were continued without any diminution.
The Lord Mayor of London is treated with marked
respect by their Majesties and the citizens. At the
theatre on Tuesday night the King desired his
lordship to take a chair on his left in front of the
Royal box. This the Lord Mayor, with good taste,
for which the whole audience, who saw what was
going on, gave him credit, respectfully declined to
do, but occupied a seat immediately behind the King.
The King has placed one of the Royal carriages at
the disposal of his lordship, and by this-and many
other attentions evinces his wish to pay respect to
the city of London and the character of the present
chief magistrate. Yesterday morning the King in-
vited Col. Loyd Lindsay and his staff to ride on
horseback with him in the Bois de la Cambre, the
Bois de Boulogne of Brussels. This wood has but
recently been laid out as a public pleasure-ground.
It is very extensive, and was formerly the appanage
of an old abbey. As now arranged it contains spa-
cious carriage rides, capital shady alleys for eques-
trian exercise, and excellent footpaths. If we had
it near London, Rotten-row and the Ring would
soon be deserted. Leopold 11. is a good rider, and
he and his companions did their 14 miles yesterday
afternoon before returning to Brussels, from which
the Bois is distant about a mile and a half.
At 2 o'clock the King and Queen set out from
their city Palace for the Muse; in order to hold the
levee, at which all the officers of foreign rifle corps
were to be presented. The repairs going on in the
Palace itself prevented their Majesties from holding
the levee there ; but the place chosen for the recep-
tion was not an inappropriate one. It was the old
palace of the Austrian governors of this country,
and Albert and Isabella lived there in the time of
Philip 11. of Spain. The very apartment, too, in
which the officers were present was the ancienne Salle
du Trone. The Royal cortege was headed by a squa-
dron of the Guides, and another squadron of the
same regiment brought up the rear. In a closed car-
riage and pair were some of the Royal attendants,
then came two outriders in the scarlet liveries, and
next a closed carriage and pair, in which were the
King and Queen. There was a grand flourish of
trumpets as their Majesties set out from the Palace,
and another announced their entry into the Musee.
The distance between the two buildings is scarcely
a quarter of a mile, and the horses went at a walk-
ing pace, the crowds iu the streets cheering the
King, the Queen, and the Royal Family. At the
foot of the great staircase was a guard of the Chas-
seurs, and a number of Court footmen in the Royal
livery. The officers about to be presented to their
Majesties were shown into the apartment called the
Salle a Colonnes on their arrival at the Musee. The
levee commenced at a quarter past 2 o'clock. The
King and Queen stood in front of the throne, at-
tended by a numerous retinue of Aides-de-Camp
and Ladies of Honour. On the right of the throne
stood the Lord Mayor of London, wearing the uni-
form of a Deputy-Lieute4nt and his insignia as
chief magistrate ; M. de COmminges-Guitaud, Mi-
nister of France, and the Secretaries of the Lega-
tions of Frac ce, England, and Holland. On the left
were the Bourgmestre of Brussels, the Echevins,
I'Etat-Major, and superior officers of the Garde
Civique ; the Commission of the Tir National, and
the Commission for the Reception of Foreign Riflel
men. The King wore his uniform of General-in-
Chief of the Garde Civique and the Grandon Cordon
of the Order of Leopold. The Queen was dressed
in black satin, and wore a diadem of brilliants, the
Cordon of the Order of Isabelle of Portugal, and the
insignia of her Austrian order. All the officers of
the foreign rifle corps, including, of course, those of
our Volunteers, were presented to their Majesties.
The levee terminated about 3 o'clock, and the King
and Queen rqturned to Laeken almost immediately
afterwards.

A concert was given in the Zoological-gardens
by, the band of the Ist Surrey in aid of the sufferers
by cholera in this city. Though the King's levee
kept so many people away from the gardens, 1,500
francs were contributed in aid of the charity.
There was some good shooting at the long range
yesterday, but no return of the scores was issued.
Mr. Pixley, the winner of the Queen's prize at Wim-
bledon, made bull's-eyes in presence of the King on
his Majesty's visit to this range; and it was two
bull's-eyes and a centre which Lord Bury scored
before his Majesty. The weapon used by his Lord-
ship is the old Whitworth with which he competed
in 1861, So pleased was the King with his visit to
the long range that he has signified his intention to
inspect the shooting there again to-morrow morn-
ing. To-day the Volunteers go to Antwerp for a
civic reception of the foreign riflemen. From the
extensive programme of the feting which they are
to receive there I fear the return to this city will be
a very late affair. To-morrow there is to be a second
visit to Antwerp for an inspection of the fortifica-
tions. On Saturday the King will entertain the
French and Dutch and Swiss riflemen, and as many
of the Volunteers as can remain till then. All are
invited, and it is his Majesty's wish that all should
accept the invitation ; but many will be obliged to
return home before then, much to their own regret.
It is the intention of the Bourgmestre to issue about
500 tickets for the Opera to-morrow night, when there
will be another gala performance. The band of the
Ist Surrey continues to be an object of great attrac-
tion to the townspeople. Its performance is capital,
and it is in no manner chary of its " music most
eloquent." When there is not a State dinner here
everybody is dining with everybody else. There are
Volunteers' messes in the principal hotels, and some
of these messes dispense their hospitalities with un-
ceasing liberality. Last evening Colonel Loyd Lind-
say, Lord Bury, Sir Paul Hunter, and the Staff of
the Volunteers dined with M. de l'Eau d'Andre-
mont, Major Commandant k Bataillon des Chaseurs-
eclaireurs de la Garde Civique, who assembled
around him a number of gentlemen connected with
the administration of the city and the fetes and Tir.
The Lord Mayor visited the Bourgmestre yesterday,
and in the evening his lordship had a dinner party
in his apartments at the Hotel de Bellevue. The
prospectus has been printed of an organisation to
raise a fund for entertaining the Belgian riflemen in
London next year.