Litchfield enquirer., 1844-02-29
Letters from Abroad. !. No. v.


 The only chasm in Mrs. C's Litchield corres- pondence through Belgium and Holland will be supplied by re-publishing the following extracts from one of her letters to a friend in New York, published in city paper and which has been ob- ligingly furnished to render the series commenced here complete. -r's .... .s......- ..3, BrusseIs-its Lace and LGce JHansfactore-S Si,-
 galar .APpeadage to the Ho,tses-Ns Use-Hor-
 LPm-Tistt to ttS celebrated Org0n-itS pOacer,
 Pe1tormGnce, Construction, OrgGa,ist, Sc.-
 ROtterdam-.anSterddm- Iheir CandLs, Ship
 ping, Water, Sc. &c. -effI.
 We are now at Antwerp, after stay of three days at Brussels, very delightfully."- spent One thing we saw there whichwas very curous-the manufac- tory 1.-the celebrated Brussels lace. It is all made by hand, the foundation and figures; piece oftwo fingers breadth and thrice as long is the work of day. The figures separately formed, and after wards sewed on. A bunch of flowers requires the labor two three weeks to form it and one piece shown us, about three inches square but of exceed ing fneness and beauty, had employed the time of one person nearly three months. No wonder, then, it is expensive. The work Is very trying to the eyes, and most of the operatives lose their sight when young. We saw, however, two old women still engaged upon the costly fabric, who were ap parently near sixty but were told they were rare exceptions-two among thousands whose sight was lost. ''"'' -@f -'t~~t ''5,e 1 '-'9r. ''}.-
 cone singular appendage to the houses here struck us in our walks from it's odd appearance This is something which can only compare to shallow black saucepans with handles some three feet long. fastened to some of the most respectable houses near the windows. On enquiry, found that these odd looking affairs contained looking glasses and reflected to the inhabitants within the dwellings all that was passing in the street without themselves being hid" ' 7 !.
 Further on we quote description of a visit to the celebrated Harla'm organ, the finest in Flu rope, with its eight thousand pipes and sixty two stops:- -" - "e' ,sFN1A
 ssWe reached Harlem about noon. Towards evening we bent our steps toward the Cathedral for the purpose of hearing the organ par excellence The edlhce was once possessed by the Roman Catholics, but is place of worship for Protes- tants. It is very plain, with nothing to break the vast space of the interior has fine lofty arches and so much open space as to give fine effect to the tones of the wonderful instrument it contains While some one went for the organist, we mounted to the belfry to see the town, and were we'll paid; but the organ, after all, is the lion of Harlem and must say that when the performer arrived soon after our descent, and struck the keys, the volume of sweet sounds surpassed all my imagina- tons, and, fear all description. At first, he call ed forth all its power and tones, and ceasng sud- denly, we heard it's echoes answering and rever brating through the long-drawn aisles and fretted vaults around and above us. Then in tones lmita-
 
 bass solos, with chorus as if from whole choir; you would scarcely believe there were no human voices assisting him. It seemed to me, indeed, in the dim twilight, almost supernatural-as ii lis- tened to spirit tongues. Then came reUatie with a trumpet, drum, and fife, with trumpet echo m the distance then music for dancing, with the patter of twinlling feet;' then merry peal of bells worthy Fourth of July morning in Manhat- ta; and lastly an imitation of storm, with the most natural thunder imaginable; beginning with low mutterings at distance, rising gradually near- CT, and finally crashing immediately above us with terrific loudness that made us tremble for the next blnding flash to come. The organist played about an hour, and then invited us to go up and look at the interior of this mighty instrument.- There were three rows of keys which he struck with his hands, and two of pedals which he play ed upon with his feet. His seat was about yard and half long, and the way he slid about upon this to manage the keys, the stops and the pedals, was a curiosity. It was really hard labor, and the performer was pale with eXertion and covered with precipitation. This man plays for the congrega- ton and then of course strangers can hear him for nothing but when he performs, as to-day, to dls- play his powers and those of the instrument, he charges five dollars, can only say that would willingly have given five more had it not been too late The organ itself is curious for its great beau tv size and tone, but owes much to the ability of the performer in drawing forth its deep, majestic, solemn notes; and both are in a measure indebted to the vastness of the structure in which 1t IS placed. f1spr. a.fj si.s.gs5f.. i.a. .,s, .. .4
 "The most unique place we have yet seen is Rot terdam. Canals run in all directions through the city, with carriage road on either side, and along the banks of the canal, rows of trees. which are planted not so much for beauty as utility-as the roots form sort of net work beneath the soil, giv- ing strength to the dykes and preventing their be- ing washed away by the sudden rush of the rising waters. As there are many canals there must be multitude of bridges but the most singular sight was the vessels of all sizes and kinds, and from all parts of the world, filling these watery thoroughfares. Though not so large city as New York, having but SOOO0 inhabtants,ye as far az 1t docs extend it is quite as thickly settled. Imag- inc then Broadway lined on each side with trees, and canal covered with shipping, and you have good idea of Rotterdam. It was pleasing thing to see among the green tree tops and tall chimney stacks how were mingled the taper masts each glv- ing forth the flag of it's nation to the breeze, and none more frequently or more beautifully than our own stars and stripes One does not know how to love and be proud of our own beautiful star spangled banner till they have its folds rolling out in the skies of a foreign land, where all else is strange. The canals in many parts of the ely, with their pleasant walks and shady trees, would have a rather picturesque effect, were It not for the filthy vegetable matter floating upon the sur face of the water. This same water is filtered and drank by the people here, but even after hltering it looks about the color of stagnant rain water-- They might repeat the process forever ere It would become palatable to those used to our de- lightful Croton. aa
 Amsterdam is large city, with 100000 busy inhabitants many of whom are Jews. The canals though not so numerous, as in Rotterdam, are very broad and deep. One, the ship canal, is 120 wide, and deep enough for ships of the largest class The water in them is either salt, coming from the hat all nf Ia uaod fnrc