Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1876-05-19

IABOIA, OH1O,
here and who had been in the battle
and was an intelligent guide, there
was no one who could give reliable
information regarding the location
of the troops, or the position of the
armies. There was a time IN my life
when | would have visited the battle
field of Waterloo if / had been with
in ten miles of it, but the great bat
ties of our own war have since over
shadowed in interest every other,
and eclipsed, as it were, in an Amer
icau mind, even that great battle
which decided the fate of Empires
as well as of Napoleons. | inquired
where the ball was that Lord Byron
so graphically and beautifully de-
seribes as transpiring Oh the eve of
that battle, aud was told that the
first that was ever heard or it in
Brussels was when the poem was
written. then began TO doubt
whether the battle of Waterloo had
ever been fought; but one soon learns
after travelling awhile on the Contl-
nent that very much of'what he-sup-
posed was history, is after all moth
ing but the creation of some clever
writer.
Brussels is an old city, and can
neither say much for or against 1t
1t is little larger than Cleveland,
and has very handsome park full
of large trees, that look as though
they might be three or four hundred
wears old. 1t is beautifully laid out,
aud is full of statuary, and HAS sew
eral fountains. In the evening they
have instrumental concerts here, and
it seems as if nearly the whole city
turns out. 1t is here that the best
lace manufactured is made. They
have King here whose name is
Leopold, and who is said to be very
clever fellow for King. They have
picture galleries, and / was especial
lv pleased with an exhibition of mod
ern paintings / saw here. 1t is said
thst Brussels is the best market in
Europe for the sale of valuable mod
ern paintings, and that fact drew
the rare pictures to this exhibition
from all over Europe. This gave me
an opportunity TO compare the an
cient and modern, and | confess that
although not a connoiseur--I think
there are artists now living who are
producing paintings that have never
been surpassed.
| AK LA CHAPELLE.
This ancient city is situated in
Prussian territory, near the Belgian
line. 1t belonged to France in Ma
poleon's time, but in a subsequent
game between tie kings, a new deal
was made and it fell to the lot of
Prussia. 1t has $4,000 inhabitants,
and is.chiefy distinguished as being
the home and burial place of the En-
peror Charlemagne, for its holy rel
les and for its hot baths.
l stopped here to see the place
and to lest, for, after travelling over
Ireland, Scotland and England, aud
in trying to see every thing in Lon
don and Paris in three weeks, in the
month of August, | felt when Ireach-
cd here, pretty nearly 'splayed out. "
l called upon Emory P. Beauchamp,
the American Cons ul here, and was
delighted to find one of the best fel-
lows ever met in my life. He is
from Terre Haute, Indiana, and is a
friend of Gov. Morton. He is a
young man of twenty-eight, and has
the finest consular apartments of
any American Consul in Europe, in
the principal hotel on the ground
floor. He represents the dignity and
majesty of the United States in a
way it should be represented. He
has the stars and stripes unfurled
every day, and keeps the American
eagle continually screaming. This is
a great resort for the English nobIli.
ty, who come here for the hot sui,
phur baths. They are such gluttons
that many of them have gout, and
rheumatism, for which this water is
considered specific.
1 was sorry that my friend, the
editor of the Catholic UuiUerse-
who has been paying me some fine
compliments since left Cleveland
could not be with me to see the holy
relics which are shown here. II
cost me about dollar to induce the
priest in charge of them, to show
them, and after | had seen them
they were so extraordinary in char
aeter that purchased pamphlet SOLD
by the Church and printed under it
sanction, containing list of thest
wonderful relics.
But before describing them l mus
tell you what this pamphlet says re
garding the pilgrimages made her,
from all over Europe to see them, il
olden times. 1t says, "Aix-la-Cha
pelle may be numbered among tn
most ancient places of pilgrimage il
Germany. An arrangement for ex
posing the relics Of the Cathedral fo
the veneration of the faithful ever,
year, on Wednesday after Whitsun
tide, is said to have been made a
early as 500. The period when phi
grimages began cannot be precisel
, fixed, but Quix dates it backward
to the Twelfth or even the eleventh
century. The number of pilgrims aI
. pears sometimes incredible. In 1876;
more than once it became necessar
Z to shut the gates of the town in o.
, der to prevent the entrance of ne'
eomers till the people within tn
> walls had diminished by degrees, an
> that nevertheless several person
were killed in the press. One day
: the year 1496, were numbered l42
! 600 pilgrims. 1t was necessary
: that period to separate the pilgrim
by nations. Thus the fish mark'
was appropriated for the Hung'
: rians, the Hoft to pilgrims fro
Friesland, and the Kirchbof to ST.
vonians and visitors from Vienna
= = The pilgrims from Bohemia and HUI
= gary in later years, amounted to
z L L. . h.,