The Sun.
London, England, 1861-10-21 00:00:00

BELGIUM.

Tho Belgian journals give detailed accounts of
the meetings between the Kings of Holland and of
the Belgians at
.Liege.
At seven p.m., the King of the Belgians, accom
panied by the Puke of Brabant, proceeded to a tent
erected for the occasion at the Guillemins station.
All the high officials, civil as military, were as-
sembled there. At a quarter-past seven the cannon
announced the arrival of King William.
King Leopold advanced, with the Duke of
Brabant towards King William, and the two
Monarchs shook hands. The assembled multitude
loudly cheered.
The cortege was formed in the usual. manner, and
the two Monarchs proceeded to the Palace, driving
along the Boulevards.
In the evening the city of Liege was brilliantly
illuminated.

During a serenade given in front of the Palace
the two Kings appeared together at one of the
windows of the Palace, when they were again
received with enthusiastic cheers.

THE OAR, THE WHEEL, AND THE PLOUGH.-A
correspondent says—" In the most instructive speech de-
livered by the Chancellor of the Exchequer at the School of
Science at Liverpool, on Thursday last, speculating upon
the origin of the -oar, the wheel, and the plough, he ex-
presses his opinion that the oar was simply learnt from the
wing of a bird in cleaving the air ; that the wheel was learnt
from the circular motion of certain birds, referring parti-
cularly to a description of hawk ; and that the plough was
suggested by the snout of the pig. Now with every pos-
sible deference to so great an authority, I venture to ex-
press my humble opinion that the first kind of oar was a
paddle,' such being the implement used by all savages to
propel their rude canoes through the water. And if lam
right in this conjecture it would seem most probable that
the paddle and the mode of using it were taken from the
leg and foot of a web-footed fowl, to which the form of the
paddle and the action of it are precisely similar. Then with
regard to the origin of the wheel ; I conceive that when men
first began to clear the forest ground for tillage, and had
with their rude axes cut down a tree and lopped off its
branches, they would roll the trunk out of the way, and
thus the idea of a wheel, as a section of the trunk would
form ono, would suggest itself. Even at this day round
pieces of wood, or rollers, are used for the purposes of
wheels in moving blocks of wood in timber yards and deck
yards. Lastly, with regard to the origin of the plough, I
imagine that the ground was first tilled with a spade rudely
formed of wood, and that the plough was, comparatively
speaking, a more modern invention, and took its shape from
the stem of a canoe or boat, which cleaves the water as a
plough does the land, and would leave a ridge and furrow
behind if the water was of sufficient consistency to retain
them."

, An " American" burlesque, written by Mr. John
Brougham, and founded upon the well-known legend
of " Poca-Hon-Tas," by which name the piece is
called, was produced hero on Saturday night. It
is a burlesque of the broadest species, with jokes of
the boldest and most extravagant class, and is so
thoroughly defiant of criticism in its eccentricities
that its justification can only be found in success.
To chronicle that the audience laughed, is, there-
fore, all that can be said, and when it has been
stated that Mr. Brougham personated the Indian
King, Powhattan the First, with a good deal of
rampant humour ; that Mr. Harris entered with
thorough heartiness into the part of John Smith,
the buccaneer, and sang in mock Italian ; that Mr.
Shore " made up" the Dutchman, who is his rival
with Poca-Hon-Tas, with characteristic grotesque-
ness ; that Miss Helen Howard, in spite of her
savage costume, was fascinating as the heroine; that
the Indian dresses are picturesque as well as comic ;
that there is a pretty ballet, a capital selection of
tunes for the parodies, and some pretty scenery ; and
that the piece is carefully placed upon the stage,
enough has been said, doubtless, to induce the public
to go for themselves and judge whether burlesque
as imported is as good as the native article with
which we are so plentifully supplied. The burlesque
is prefaced by a well-written prologue, spoken,
although somewhat long, with propriety and point
by Miss Rose Leclerq, in the character of Columbia,
who leans upon the staff of the national flag, appro-
priately decorated with black crape.
Mr, Fechter is announced to appear as Othello on
Wednesday next.