The Sun.
London, England, 1866-10-18 00:00:00

Visit of the Volunteers to Belgium.

(From the Times Special Correspondent.)
BRUSSELS, Wednesday Morning.
To-day there has been witnessed in this city one
of those sights which can be seen only in a free
country. Au ovation for the ruler of a people may
be organised officially, as we know it has been be-
fore now, in places where the object of the acclama-
tion was anything but popular, and the people
feigned a loyalty which they felt not. But there

is no mistaking an enthusiasm organised by the police
for the outspoken. loyalty of a free and happy people,
who love the chief of their State ; and quite as im-
possible would it be for any one who hears the way
Leopold 11. is cheered by his people and sees the
manner in which they surround him whenever he
appears among them, constantly as that is, to come
to any other conclusion than that he is a sovereign
Lien came of his subjects. I use the French words,
because they are those in which any Belgian will
respond to y3u if you ask him how the people like
their King. It was only last evening it became
known that his Majesty would visit the Tir to-day,
and review his faithful Garde Civique; but short as
the notice was, dense masses had stationed them-
selves along the whole route from the city to the Tir,
a distance of more than two of our miles, consider-
ably before the hour at which it had been announced
his Majesty would set out from the Royal Palace in
the city. I mentioned in a former letter that the

Tir building resembles the south wing of the Great
Exhibition Palace at Kensington ; but I ought to
have added, by way of qualification in favour of the
Belgian structure, that it is much handsomer. lu
the centre there is a projection, the upper story of
which serves as a bureau for the Commission Di-
rectrice du Tir; and at each extremity there arc
smaller projections in the same style. The top is
castellated along the entire length, and the roof
affords space for standing or walking on the leads.
To-day every little castle from end to end had its
handsome Belgian flag, and all the spaces between

the raised brickwork were filled with ladies
radiant hi light and brilliant clothing, for the day
was mild and the sun shone out strongly. Flags
were displayed from the walls of the lower part of
the building also ; streamers were passed from tree
to tree on the space in front ; bright carpet was laid
on the path by which the King was to pass in ; and
such were the floral decorations of the alcove at the
entrance that it was like a charming bower of choice
exotics. Immediately in front of the building, and
outside the grass plot which forms its lawn, was the
high road, with a longline of carriages drawn up on
each side and thousands of happy-looking men,
women, and children in the centre. Outside the
highway was an extensive country of hill and dale
all smiling in the luxurious tintsof autumn, the wood
and Palace of Laeken crowning the height which
bound the landscape in the distance. It was for this
spot the King set out from Brussels at a quarter
before 2 o'clock. As in the case of our Queen, punc-
tuality is with him a rule ; and at the appointed
hour a squadron of his fine guards, the Guides, in
their green uniforms, long boots and bearskins,
trotted out of the Palace courtyard with an air and
spirit that reminded me of our heavy Dragoons.
Next came two outriders in scarlet and gold, with
cockades of the Belgian colours in their hats. Then,
amid a "Vive le Roi !" that you might have heard
half a mile off, the open carriage and four contain-
ing the King, with the Lord Mayor of London sit-
ting by his side, and General De Limn. opposite to
him. The King wore the uniform of a Lieutenant-
General of the Belgian army, but on this occasion
the riband of the Order of Leopold was not across
his shoulders. There was a broad piece of crape on
his left arm, and all the Royal servants had their
gold bands covered with crape as mourning for the
late King. The Lord Mayor was in the uniform of
a Deputy-Lieutenant, and wore-the Order of Leo-
pold. Four other open carriages and four followed
his Majesty, all splendidly horsed and elegant in
their appointments, and another squadron of the
Guides brought up the rear. Turning from the
park to the line of streets leading across the boule-
vards to the suburban road by which the Tir is
approached, the cortege proceeded at a slow trot,
for it was impossible to drive rapidly through the
carriages and the crowds that everywhere all but
blocked up the carriage-way. On either side of the
road are lofty trees, beneath which run the foot-
paths. From many of those trees flags depended,
and indeed all the houses within sight of his Majesty
were decorated. Arrived at the space in front of
the Tir the King descended and made an inspection
of the Garde Civique,
who Were drawn up in hollow
square. His Majesty was followed by M. Rogier,
Minister of Foreign Affairs, M. Alphonse van den
Peereboom, Minister of the Interior, General Re-
nard, Brialmont, Goethals, D'Hanins de Moerkerke,
Dubent Borremans, and Major Goffinet and Lieut.
Londen, officers of ordnance.
Having passed along
the inside of the four sides of the square, the King
ascended the steps at the entrance of the building
and the troops defiled before him in companies,
each company shouting " Vive le Roi !" as it
passed his Majesty. The appearance of the various
corps of the' Garde Civique, cavalry, infantry,
chasseurs, eclaireurs, and artillery, was picturesque
in square, but still more so as the various
branches of the force defiled before their
Sovereign and saluted. There was no effort at
great military display; no mad capering of orderly
officers with apocryphal messages, but there was
the manly marching of a fine body of patriot
soldiers dressed in various and handsome uni-
forms, and all breathing devotion to the King who
stood before them. The defiling having come to a
conclusion the King entered the building, and was
received, under the President's canopy and amid
the flowers, by M. Dailly, who read a short address
_thanking his Majesty for his uniform patronage of
the Tir, and congratulating him upon the succes-
sion of loyal demonstrations with which be had been
met in the provinces and his capital during his
recent visits to the various fetes throughout Bel-