The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1874-01-29

--4fAAA 2 9 41At ~ kJdhAl
with his daeghter, and while ther
wrote home a series Of very interest
ing letters, which " ere originally pub
lished in the DeseFbr ~ eaCs. iUpol
] their return, lew months $50, the
spent short time in visiting their oil
friends and acquaintances in Mantua
and furnished them with copies o
their fofeign correspondence, anC
many of them deeming the letters o
much interest have asked us 10 repub
lish them, with which request vi
! gladly reply, and give below the frs
OF them: ~ a0A4ss E
+ m haa- 1ae o
n ,sssd M PARIS, Dec. H. 1872.
Editor Deseret -Nesos.. grHs bna
4 w e arrived in the city of "A AntHerp
Belgium, 1th OF December. It is on
! of the finest cities in the kingdom, EN-
bracing a population of $4,000. It i
the principal sea port of the country
carrying on an extensiEey ytraffic5 witt
Great BRitaiR aud GermanYea Among
other objects of interest, we examined
the celebrated cathe edraf, n Notre Dame
I 800 feet in length and 2l6 Ia width
theimost magnificent gothic .str1etnrs
in Belgium 5 &c was eammeuced il
the middle of the thirteenth, century
and copmleted one hundFedy ears alter
1t is the only church inEnrope that has
six aisles. ItsiskiIlfally executed and
elaborate carvings nuEnerOus paint
ings by, celebrated artists, mosaic
work of the finest descrition, marble
statues of exquisite Workmanship ,gor-
ge0us giIdings, aad decorations Of the
most costly character; altogether form
scene of great beauty and magnifi.
cence. The tower is 402 feet in height
and Is assembled by GO steps. ft af-
forfls splendid view of the city and
surrounding country. It's chimes are
among the most complete, in Belgium
consisting of SO bells, the smallest ol
which is but fifteen fncher in diameter,
the largest weighs eight tons.
Wealso visited the museua, con-
tanning 3 celleeti9n of $50 pietures,
possessing great merit, the pFoduc-
tions OF celebrated masters. One OF
these by Rhbens, which consider the
most perfect, particularly attracted
my attention. II represents Christ
crueified between. two thieves; Lon-
ginns, the Roman officer mounted on
a grey horse, is piercing the Savior's
side with q lance the penitent thief,
gray haired man, is invoking the
Savior for the last time. In the fore
ground stands the Virgin mother.
whom Mary, tire wife of Cieophas, in
vain endeavors to console. Farther
back, st. John Ieans againstythe cross
of the impeDitent thief, weeping ;;MarF
Magdalene on her knees, at the foot Of
the cross. inplores Longinus TO spare
the sacred body of her master.
The whole rs drawn with almost
startling accuracy--indeed, / never
saw a life scene on canvas so striking
Iy illustrated. The Writhing agony of
the impenitent fnalefact0r whose legs
have just been broken by Roman
soldier, vile on the contrary, the
composed expression of the other,
though worn by suffering dopict-
ed with such marvellous exactness, im-,
pressed me for the moment with q
leeiing that was Witnessing the real
ity of this shocking scene.
Antwerp justly boasts of many pub
lie edifices of great beauty and mag
nificence. The royal palace erected
over 100 years ago in fantastic pom
padour style, drew our attention,
though perhaps failed TO excite our
admiration. This city has splendid
theatre, its interior handsomely deco
rated with paintings and busts5 in
marble aud bronze, of eminent COM
posers and dramatists, among whom
are Shakespeare, Molier, Euripides, and
Mozart The Geological Garden con-
tains a fine collection Of animals,
which, with its garden and beautiful
park, is considered one of the best in
Europe.
We left Antwerp the following ar
iternoon and arrived at Brussels in the
evening.
Brussels is the capital of Belgium,
the residence of the. eyal family, and
contains a population of l70, 600, only
5000 of whom are Protestants. This
citysllas many points of resent blance
to Paris, the capital of France, so
much SO that it frequently is called
Paris in miniature The majority
of the citizens speak the French lam
guage the Flemish is chiefly spoken
by the tower classes. 3k-- iess&
IS AS usual on entering Catholic cities,
we paid our RESPECTS TO its celebrated
cathedrals, of which st. Nicholas is
the most prominent. It is ofa Gothic
structure, and presents an Imposing
appearance. Its Interior embraces
characteristics similarto other Catho-
lie churches, images, elaborate cary
ings, fine marble statuaFyy sumptuous
gildings, magnificent decorations, to-
gethef with paintings in almost end
less Variety Some have rather singu-
lar representations, euch, for instance
as the eExpulsion from o Paradlse,1 9
done in carved wood, with great skill
aud at vast labor aud Expense
A mong the beautiful foliage are seen
all kinds of animals---a bear, deg, cat,
eagle, xHltuFe, peacock, owl, dove,
squirrel aud lastly an ape eating an
apple. These are sarmounteda by the
Virgin with the Child, who crnshes
the head of the serpent, with thescross.
In one of these churches, an old lady
was holding a stock of wax candles,
some of which she insisted on our pur-
chasing, that we might burn them for
the benefit of our dead friends. In
another we saw a gentleman Ofrespee-
table appearance, del Ig penanee in =
PROSTATE position upon the foer OF
the church, before the cross, aud im-
age of the Savior, kissing the stone
pavement with great ferYor, and wet
ting it with tears. j imagined he
might have committed in secret some
great crime l may have failed doing
him Justice.
In one OF these cathedrals we wit
messed Catholic wedding which was
quite amusin g-the bride and groom
were kneeling before thealtar, alsriest
in sacerIlotai robes, with open Bible,
wax tapers, aud three silver goblets OF
wine-was performing the marriage
ceremony, reading a sentence or two,
repeatedly kissing the cross aud quaf-
flng the wine, waving his hands and
ipronouncing Latin, while in the back
ground little boy in white gown,
walking 10 and fro, swinging slowly,
then rapidly, a small censor with
smoking incense, accompanied with
an occasional jingle of q bell. In theS
evening we attended the Royal Opei.-
attic Theatre, the most noted in BrHs-
sells, and the finest and most richly
finished and artistically decorated /
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